Those of you who
know me know I have a passion for music (an understatement, if
I ever heard one). I had long awaited a new release from The Martins,
a popular contemporary gospel group, and when I learned of it's
availability, I rushed out to purchase it. Upon arriving home
I eagerly looked forward to putting it in my CD player and listening
to the new songs.
When I opened
the plastic covering, impatiently, I might add, and opened the
CD, a little insert popped out. I pushed it aside and went to
the CD player and put on the CD.
Beautiful music
started to pour out of the speakers. I was so happy! I was finally
listening to my favorite artists on their long awaited CD!
You're probably
wondering what this has to do with the title of my article. Much
to my chagrin and shame, my six-year-old son picked up the little
inserted flyer, I had so hastily thrown away, and was intently
staring at a picture of a little child on its cover.
"Mom," he asked,
"what is leprosy?" I immediately asked what he was looking at,
and he handed me the little inserted flyer.
It stated that
The Martins proudly support American Leprosy Missions which are
dedicated to curing children with Leprosy. I took a closer look
at the picture of the little child on the cover and my heart wanted
to break.
A child afflicted
with leprosy was staring back at me from the page. His or her
nose, it was hard to tell the gender from the picture, was almost
gone, ravaged by disease. Yet, there was a hint of a smile on
his or her face and an almost imperceptible twinkle in his or
her eye.
Holden was totally
captivated by this and I spent a long time explaining to him about
leprosy and how children of other nations were not as blessed
as he was. I went into great detail about how that child probably
lived compared to how he lived and how blessed he was.
Tears actually
came to his eyes while I was telling this little child's life
story. He was so touched by this child's suffering. That night
when Holden went to bed, he knelt beside his bed and prayed for
God to please help those little children with leprosy and heal
them.
I wasn't present
for this prayer of Holden's, but my Mother was. She said it was
a very earnest prayer, and Holden prayed it just as if he knew
God had answered his prayer right then and there.
Our children
have such open, honest hearts with such a great capacity for love.
And they pray with same attitude. It didn't matter to Holden that
he didn't actually know that little child in the picture.
It didn't matter
to him that he probably never would even meet that little child.
He felt empathy for him or her. He put himself in his or her shoes
and wanted to pray to Jesus about it, so he did.
I must admit
with a certain amount of shame that my heart was not so open and
honest and loving at that time. I was more interested in listening
to my music. That was so much more important than stopping to
look at a little flyer, wasn't it? Unfortunately for me, in Jesus'
eyes the answer would be, no.
I also admit
that I rush around trying to be "Mother" that I forgot to be a
Mother. We just get too busy in our lives today. Children have
a way of slowing us down and making us see the small, important
things in life.
We should all
take lessons from our children. They care, they love, and they
pray. Their prayers are so heartfelt with no pretense. How do
we pray?
Although Holden's
prayer was as little as he was, I think in Heaven it was heard
with a loud crescendo! Jesus takes the time to hear our prayers,
but I think He makes extra special time for the children's prayers.
Recall the text
in the Bible when He made extra special time for the children.
"Suffer the little children to come unto me." I think He longs
for their company. I think He wants to be around little ones who
wear their hearts on their sleeves, and whose faces shine with
their love for Him!
Oh, if it were
only that easy for us "grownups." I wonder who named us "grownups"
anyway? We're so stuffy and stiff and proper most of the time.
Do we forget
whose "children" we are? We are the child of the King . . . God
the Father! We pray to Him daily for intervention in our lives
and to help us out of jams we get ourselves into, but do we really
expect Him to intervene when we ask?
Do we run to
Him and throw our arms around Him, simply happy to be in His presence?
Are we glad just to spend quiet time with Him?
Can we become more
childlike? I think we had better. One more lesson from the Bible
states that unless we become as little children we will not inherit
the kingdom of God! I want to inherit the kingdom, but most of
all I want to be with Jesus. I want to thank Him for His marvelous,
wondrous, saving grace and love for me. I long to feel his arms
around me, cradling me as a father cradles his baby. Hmmmmmm,
maybe there's hope for us after all.
_
April is CHILD
ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH! Here are some little known facts in regards
to child abuse in the state of Virginia. If you live in a state
other than Virginia, with a little research I'm sure you can determine
that child abuse is just as serious a problem as in Virginia.
Did you know
that every 50 minutes a child in Virginia is abused or neglected?
Every 14 days the abuse or neglect is serious enough to cause
the child to die. Last year, 10,423 children were victims of founded
cased of child abuse and neglect in Virginia, and 25 of Virginia's
children died from injuries attributable to abuse and neglect.
477. of the victims of abuse and neglect were under age 7. Of
the children who died, 76% were age two or under.
Please pray for
our children, and for the people who parent them. We need to cherish
our precious gifts from God.
From one of His
children to another, with lots and lots of love.
